Michigan Collegiate's Teo Redding: `He's just ... wow'

Anytime Teo Redding gets his hands on the football something good is bound to happen.

And the good is usually a touchdown for Michigan Collegiate.

“He’s just … wow,” Cougars coach Alfredo Calderon said after his squad came from behind to beat Old Redford on a last minute touchdown from his senior wide receiver. “He’s a freak.”

Redding’s season stats are astonishing.

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Of his 23 receptions this year, 10 have been for touchdowns.

And of his five rushing attempts this season, one has gone the distance.

Redding averages a touchdown roughly every 2.5 times he gets his hands on the football.

He also has six interceptions on the season and has recovered two fumbles.

“I think first down or touchdown every time I touch the ball,” Redding said after the Cougars’ 39-36 win over the Ravens on Thursday.

The Cougars’ staff does everything it can to get the ball in Redding’s hands.

“We running jet sweeps with him, we’re running reverses with him, screens to him, our goal is try and get him the ball 15 times a game. If he catches the ball 15 times a game he’s going to score on six of those times.

“In 20 years I’ve never seen a guy like him,” Calderon added.

Redding, who will play football next season at Bowling Green, showed how lethal he is when a ball is thrown in his direction.

Just before halftime, Redding jumped between a double team in the back of the end zone and came down with a six-yard TD reception from Rudy Hayes just as time expired.

Then, on Old Redford’s opening drive of the second half, Redding leaped and picked off a pass in the end zone and returned it 65 yards to set up a Cougars touchdown.

“He’s the greatest player I’ve seen in my whole entire life,” Calderon said. “He gets an offer from Bowling Green and they got a steal of a lifetime. Everybody passed on him because he’s 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2, 165 pounds. They said he’s too small.”

After a play that netted Michigan Collegiate a minus-three yards on its second drive of the second half, Redding got the ball on a reverse and bolted down the sideline, untouched to the end zone for a 72-yard TD to give the Cougars a 31-14 lead.

“He’s sneaky fast,” Calderon said. “He’s so smooth when he runs. People don’t think he’s going that fast then all of a sudden he turns the corner and he’s gone.”

The Ravens mounted a comeback that saw them take a 36-31 lead with five minutes left to play in the fourth quarter.

Redding returned the ensuing kickoff to Old Redford’s 37-yard line. The drive ended on a fumble on the very next play.

But the Cougars got the ball back, taking it over after a stop on fourth down on their own 41. Two plays later they were on the Ravens’ side of the 50-yard line.

“When we got inside the 50-yard line we knew we were going to take a shot or two at Teo,” Calderon said. “We’re going to throw it to the end zone and watch him come down with it. Anytime we’re inside the 50 we know we have a shot there.”

And on third-and-five from the Ravens’ 40, Hayes looked to his right where Redding was running his route down the sideline. After a throw of about 25 yards, Redding did his best vertical jump to come down with the ball between a host of defenders and then sprinted the rest of the distance for the 40-yard score with 38 seconds to play.

“I don’t care how small you are, you can’t just fall out of the sky like he just did and catch the ball,” Calderon said. “He’s ridiculous.

“Double, triple team, no one can jump with him,” Calderon continued. “You can put 11 guys over there and he’s going to come down with the ball.”

“We actually had a play setup to stop Teo,” Old Redford coach Eric Smith said. “He’s one hell of an athlete. We were supposed to double team him with our two best guys, but we fell asleep on that one. He is something special.”

Redding has 548 yards receiving this year and 78 yards rushing.

He also has a pair of two-point conversion runs, one of which came after he bobbled a snap and maneuvered his way through the line to give Michigan Collegiate the three-point cushion against the Ravens.

The win got the Cougars to the six wins needed to reach the playoffs for a fourth straight season.

“It’s my senior year and my team needed me,” Redding said after the game. “This win gets us in the playoffs so I needed to make that catch. I knew I could get it. I have been catching it all day.”

Redding and his teammates have a huge Charter School Conference game looming this week when the Cougars (4-1 in the conference, 6-1 overall) host first-place Chandler Park Academy (5-0, 5-1).

There are other big conference matchups this week, too.

In the MAC White Division, Warren-Mott (4-0 in the division, 7-0 overall) and Port Huron (4-0, 5-2) will battle for first place. In the MAC Gold Division, Marine City (4-0, 6-1) and Marysville (4-0, 7-0) will meet to decided division supremacy; in the MAC Silver Division, Madison (3-1, 6-1) and Lamphere (3-1, 3-4) will meet. South Lake is also 3-1 in the division, and the Cavaliers take on Warren Woods-Tower this week.